Night Portraits

[SoCalTiger]

Originally Posted by mrdunu

Interesting. I always thought, when taking portraits, to always have your aperture above 3.5, otherwise too much of your subject will be out of focus. I'll give it a go for next time! Thanks for the advice!

Hmmm not sure who gave you this advice. I see excellent portraits all the time taken at 1.4-1.8. It's a matter of practice and also what you are going for (creatively).

[smorter]

Agree, I can take group photos of 15 people at f/1.4 and still have everyone in focus, some of the advice like aperture narrower than 3.5 is very strange

[johndoorley]

Thoughts on the opening shot:
go to single point focus and focus on your subjects eyes, then frame the shot.
The shot looks like the focus is behind your subjects (the stripes on the shirt behind them look sharp)

As far as shooting with a ceiling vs open area, I am guessing the shot on the boat had more ambient light on the subjects than in the club (compared to the amount of light in the background)

try to place your subjects in as dark a position as possible.

Just a thought on starting point:

single (center point) focus - focus then frame shot
- tripod/monopod/brace camera : more stable - more better
iso 200
f2.0
1 60th shutter speed

flash manual mode - start at 1/16th power

Just some thoughts - Have fun and good luck!

[snowboardpunk]

Hey guys I also have a question. i dont mean to thread steal but when taking portraits of multiple people, what aperature do you want? do you want a wider aperature or a smaller aperature? and if it is multiple people who do you focus on? do you do auto or do you choose the center one and pick the middle person?

[johndoorley]

I suggest you open a new thread rather than "hijacking" one, so your question and responses can be found.


Cheers!

[RDKirk]

Originally Posted by cxphotokid

Hmmm dunno about that, I'm sure you'd get less depth of field at 1.4 and more "bokeh". Also, not sure why your highlights would wash away, if you set the flash at its lowest setting and camera to f/1.4 you could use your ISO to manage the exposure, or vice versa and set ISO to lowest setting then use more power with flash for less noise.

Okay, there is no such thing as "more bokeh." Bokeh is not just an artsy synonym for "blur." "Bokeh" refers to the quality of the blur, not the quantity, and it's a factor of the design of the lens, not the set aperture.

You have "good bokeh" and "bad bokeh," not more or less bokeh.

One 85mm f/1.2 lens might have ugly bokeh while another design of the same aperture and focal length might have lovely bokeh...and the same amount of blur.

[RDKirk]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdkirk/...tream/lightbox

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdkirk/...ream/lightbox/

This was a thirty-second exposure under the sparse lights of a back alley. The red rim light was actually just a red light bulb over a door about 20 feet behind the subject. The ISO was 400. The main lighting was an off-camera flash. The camera was on a tripod, the lens was a 70-200 zoom at about 100mm and f/2.8. I pulled up the tone of the shirt, which increased noise in that area, but it was worth it in this case.


Added: This is first-curtain flash, btw. I told the subject to hold the pose after the flash until I say, "Relax." So he doesn't have to hold the smile or refrain from blinking, because that minor activity won't be visible.

[RDKirk]

Originally Posted by smorter

Agree, I can take group photos of 15 people at f/1.4 and still have everyone in focus, some of the advice like aperture narrower than 3.5 is very strange

It doesn't say much about depth of field just to identify the aperture. What's your distance, what's your focal length, what's your format, and what is your enlargement?

[smorter]

Thats my point exactly, aperture is just parameter and just altering that is not the only way to go to change DOF